Ocean Cay~ The Final Countdown

[stoneman56]

Must say those cabanas look rubbish., how much they charging?

[reedprincess]

4 hours ago, stoneman56 said:

Must say those cabanas look rubbish., how much they charging?

$249-499 depending on location and inclusions , YC, etc... They're pretty sparse, that's for sure.. not my cup of tea, I'm more than happy to leave them to those willing to shell out the money for them..

[dexddd]

5 hours ago, stoneman56 said:

They sure do, we were about to go in snorkelling and the lifeguard pointed to a 4ft shark about 20 mtrs out. He said they are not aggressive just don’t get skittish around them. He was happy for us to go out and look at it. Unlike Jaws when he said/shouted shark everyone snorkelling went INTO the water😂

And a little heads up for anyone who brings their own snorkel gear. The staff at the rental station say you can use your own gear but you have to rent a yellow vest off them. 
rubbish, the lifeguards are happy to let you do your own thing without wearing one

I'm no shark expert but did spend time in Tahiti with kids and naturalists.  There are roughly 120 shark varieties and only 20 are of concern to humans.  Whether these are or aren't can't say.  It is a bit weird at first swimming with them though.

 

My plan there is to just send kids and smaller people in first to see if any fall into the group of 20.

[rhentze]

Does anyone have a photo of the drink menu for the Ocean Cay drink package?

[CUontheC]

35 minutes ago, dexddd said:

I'm no shark expert but did spend time in Tahiti with kids and naturalists.  There are roughly 120 shark varieties and only 20 are of concern to humans.  Whether these are or aren't can't say.  It is a bit weird at first swimming with them though.

 

My plan there is to just send kids and smaller people in first to see if any fall into the group of 20.

I just told my husband that there was a 4ft shark in the water.  I like to snorkel. He said "good luck" 😆

[AeroXWD]

4 hours ago, dexddd said:

I'm no shark expert but did spend time in Tahiti with kids and naturalists.  There are roughly 120 shark varieties and only 20 are of concern to humans.  Whether these are or aren't can't say.  It is a bit weird at first swimming with them though.

 

My plan there is to just send kids and smaller people in first to see if any fall into the group of 20.

 

I saw this cute little guy or girl in the lagoon, right in front of one of the lifeguards. I'm no shark expert either, and I'm not sure if this even is a shark or just a scary looking fish.  There was some children playing in the water a few meters away, but the lifeguard didn't say anything, so I presume this one wasn't of any imminent danger to anyone. 

 

 

 

[roycny]

The ship docks Ocean Cay at 7am. I woke up early to see the sunrise and docking.

[rikitikitavii]

On 12/15/2019 at 7:42 AM, stoneman56 said:

Must say those cabanas look rubbish., how much they charging?

We had the YC cabana, Oceanside.  Overpriced at $449.  Had water and 2 bottles of champagne in small cooler along with water mats and snorkel gear, but too cold to swim.  Will be doing Divina YC in March. Will do the lounge chairs with umbrella.

[hamrag]

We are a few days returned from 14 nights in the Caribbean on an Azamara ship, and catching up with about 6 or 7 pages of postings. Maybe we have seen too many beaches in the Caribbean but, to this cruiser at least, I still do not understand the fuss over this little patch of land in the Bahamas....from the photos posted, it doesn't look particularly enticing. All being well we will visit this island from the Maraviglia early November 2020...we will probably head off for a wander and experience the warm sea, for a couple of hours then head back to the ship.

 

Each to their own, and I am genuinely glad for those who seem wowed by OC...enjoy.

[George C]

4 hours ago, hamrag said:

We are a few days returned from 14 nights in the Caribbean on an Azamara ship, and catching up with about 6 or 7 pages of postings. Maybe we have seen too many beaches in the Caribbean but, to this cruiser at least, I still do not understand the fuss over this little patch of land in the Bahamas....from the photos posted, it doesn't look particularly enticing. All being well we will visit this island from the Maraviglia early November 2020...we will probably head off for a wander and experience the warm sea, for a couple of hours then head back to the ship.

 

Each to their own, and I am genuinely glad for those who seem wowed by OC...enjoy.

You are correct , just a nice beach stop , simple not a amusement park like ladabee which we also like, but better perks for yacht club, than suites on rccl family. 

[Formula280SS]

7 hours ago, hamrag said:

We are a few days returned from 14 nights in the Caribbean on an Azamara ship, and catching up with about 6 or 7 pages of postings. Maybe we have seen too many beaches in the Caribbean but, to this cruiser at least, I still do not understand the fuss over this little patch of land in the Bahamas....from the photos posted, it doesn't look particularly enticing. All being well we will visit this island from the Maraviglia early November 2020...we will probably head off for a wander and experience the warm sea, for a couple of hours then head back to the ship.

 

Each to their own, and I am genuinely glad for those who seem wowed by OC...enjoy.

 

3 hours ago, George C said:

You are correct , just a nice beach stop , simple not a amusement park like ladabee which we also like, but better perks for yacht club, than suites on rccl family. 

 

So, you've never been there, but looked at photos and have made judgement?

 

Versus the now 10 heading towards 20 thousand MSC cruisers who've experienced it and it is deemed awkward that they "seem wowed" is "an issue?

 

YIKES.

[George C]

1 hour ago, Formula280SS said:

 

 

So, you've never been there, but looked at photos and have made judgement?

 

Versus the now 10 heading towards 20 thousand MSC cruisers who've experienced it and it is deemed awkward that they "seem wowed" is "an issue?

 

YIKES.

I was there about ten days ago. It’s only been open for 11 days so doubt 20 thousand was wowed, again nice beach day . Only unusual or unique was lighthouse that had a nice light show , been to lots of private islands in last 35 or so years since all the major lines have them. 

[hamrag]

7 hours ago, Formula280SS said:

 

 

So, you've never been there, but looked at photos and have made judgement?

 

Versus the now 10 heading towards 20 thousand MSC cruisers who've experienced it and it is deemed awkward that they "seem wowed" is "an issue?

 

YIKES.

Nope, no issue nor does this poster deem any aspect awkward, you really do need to go back and read my post! 

 

The summary of what I wrote was:

'Each to their own, and I am genuinely glad for those who seem wowed by OC...enjoy.'  😉

 

[Formula280SS]

9 hours ago, George C said:

I was there about ten days ago. It’s only been open for 11 days so doubt 20 thousand was wowed, again nice beach day . Only unusual or unique was lighthouse that had a nice light show , been to lots of private islands in last 35 or so years since all the major lines have them. 

 

Well,  the first two weeks have entertained (average per multiple sources) Divina (passenger capacity +- 3,500), Seaside (passenger capacity +- 4,100) and Meraviglia (passenger capacity +-4,500) TWICE; which by simple math, calculates to almost 24,000 passengers.

 

So, doubt not.

 

Re: "nice beach day," for you as an IMO, that's fine as everyone has an opinion.

 

IMO, the entire "marine reserve" CONCEPT makes Ocean Cay 'completely different from many or most of the other lines' private islands (which we like for various reason also).  We really like what MSC has done with this CONCEPT and in two visits, walking around the entire island, all the beaches and shoreline vistas (and the lighthouse), it's really, really nice.

 

Just IMO (we).

[Formula280SS]

3 hours ago, hamrag said:

Nope, no issue nor does this poster deem any aspect awkward, you really do need to go back and read my post! 

 

The summary of what I wrote was:

'Each to their own, and I am genuinely glad for those who seem wowed by OC...enjoy.'  😉

 

 

Yes, I saw that; and that is very respectful.

 

I guess I was referring to what was posted in the prior paragraph (but honestly my reply was influenced by responding to another post by another member) without giving credit for the ending sentence.

 

"Maybe we have seen too many beaches in the Caribbean but, to this cruiser at least, I still do not understand the fuss over this little patch of land in the Bahamas....from the photos posted, it doesn't look particularly enticing. All being well we will visit this island from the Maraviglia early November 2020...we will probably head off for a wander and experience the warm sea, for a couple of hours then head back to the ship."

 

I hope you enjoy Ocean Cay to the fullest.  Take care.

[deanman02]

16 minutes ago, Formula280SS said:

 

We really like what MSC has done with this CONCEPT and in two visits, walking around the entire island, all the beaches and shoreline vistas (and the lighthouse), it's really, really nice.

 

 

 

Yes.  There is nothing like it in the world, which makes it special. 

[jacobichka]

Hello.

Which will be the best beach for NOT YC? Calm water, sandy beach, no rocks. Is the beach really get crowded? Do I have to prepay for umbrella if I need one?

Thanks for any response.

[sptrout]

Since we just visited Ocean Cay this past Saturday (12/14) I thought I would throw-in my 2 cents. Our cabin was in the YC on deck 18, starboard (right side). This was an ideal location to see the entire island without even leaving the cabin. It also provided an excellent viewing point to watch the lighttower show that was conducted between 9:30 & 10 PM (two different shows). The light shows were a sight to be seen and we were glad that we did not miss them while finishing our packing. One comment; for some reason MSC provided very little information about any of the after dark activities including the light show. If not for a comment that I think that I had read previously on CC about the light show, we would have missed it. The daily news flyer barely mentions any of the night activities.

 

We are no longer beach people due to a mix of medical issues, but did enjoy the stop at Ocean Cay. Being in the YC gave us some nice benefits; exclusive transportation to the private YC area, private beach (we did not use), and lunch at the YC building. Lunch was very good; we both had the Mahi Mahi, which was locally sourced per the menu. There are two other lunch options; 1) Lobster Roll, 2) hamburger and fries. There were also starter and dessert options. The meals were very good and the experience very nice. On the way back to the ship I noticed that there was a MSC employee guarding entrance into the entire YC area blocking anyone that did not have an YC ID.

 

BTW - - The island also has an area that is for the crew only (at least for the crew members that got the day off). IMO, very nice idea for MSC crew members. 

 

The only other part of the island that we visited were the shops. Like everything else the shops are very new and limited in content to some degree. Worth the time, but we did not buy anything.

 

As for the island generally, we thought that it is very, very nice. It is all sand so somewhat like looking at a giant beach from our cabin. It is a "work in progress" and there still is construction on-going (but not on Saturday). The construction equipment is locked in a large area in the middle of the inland. There is at least one area/building that is under construction immediately to the right as you enter the island area (past the security gate). 

 

There is a lot of new vegetation that has been planted so in a couple years the island will look considerably different. 

 

It is obvious that MSC has spent a lot of money here and makes it clear that MSC is in the US market to stay and IMO to become a very big player soon.

 

 

[AeroXWD]

16 minutes ago, jacobichka said:

Hello.

Which will be the best beach for NOT YC? Calm water, sandy beach, no rocks. Is the beach really get crowded? Do I have to prepay for umbrella if I need one?

Thanks for any response.

 

All beaches are nice from what I saw. I don't necessarily think the YC beach is the best beach, except for maybe the service. Some beaches are protected by a net, such as the beach right by the dock, others are not. Regarding calm water, I would think that it would depend on the wind direction, there wasn't any wind at all on my sailing. The lagoon will probably often have calm water as it is pretty sheltered. 

 

Although sandy, all of the different beaches I saw had some small pebbles,  rocks, and bits of coral, so if you have sensitive feet it might hurt if you step on them. 

 

From what I saw, there wasn't any crowding on either Bimini or North beach, but I didn't venture to the other beaches before later in the afternoon when most people had left their loungers. 

[sptrout]

1 hour ago, jacobichka said:

Hello.

Which will be the best beach for NOT YC? Calm water, sandy beach, no rocks. Is the beach really get crowded? Do I have to prepay for umbrella if I need one?

Thanks for any response.

I agree with AeroXWD, I do not think that the YC beach is any more special than the many other Ocean Cay beaches (and there are many). From what I could see and use if we were beach people, is to use one of the beaches in the lagoon that is near the center and highly protected from ocean waves. As I mentioned earlier, we did not use any beaches and never even got our feet wet.

[George C]

Agree on YC beach advantage was really great waiter service every few minutes someone asked you if you wanted a drink and great lunch served by waiters. It was a little rocky.

[Formula280SS]

39 minutes ago, sptrout said:

I agree with AeroXWD, I do not think that the YC beach is any more special than the many other Ocean Cay beaches (and there are many). From what I could see and use if we were beach people, is to use one of the beaches in the lagoon that is near the center and highly protected from ocean waves. As I mentioned earlier, we did not use any beaches and never even got our feet wet.

 

We agree.  It's just a beach that's accommodating to the YC #'s; it's the right size.  The rest of the beaches we walked (along the water one way, above on the walkways the other way) were really, really nice.  Some very big, a lot of beach, a lot of loungers.  Each beach offered something a little different; ocean front, inner cove, windy and wavy, a bit wind protected and calm.  

 

If we had had our 2 older grandkids, 6 and 8, we would have gone to the lagoon/cove beach with the toys, families and raft (I believe I saw a raft).

 

There appears to be no Yacht Club beach 'differentiating factor from the others making it any better in any aspect; however, clearly the amenities such as the golf cart ride and butler/wait service, and the private restaurant are a bit special though.

[UniPac]

I am sorry to ask but as this is a very extensive thread... can someone tell me what food/drink will be free actually when having a regular "Drink's on Us" package and not staying in YC?

And what will "change on the island" when I stay in YC?

 

Thanks and sorry if this has been covered in the ~600 postings 😕

[Rob-Bob]

Really wonderful drone footage in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgYEiQvMFWk.

 

Great job filming this.

[sptrout]

Thanks Rob-Bob for posting the very nice video!

 

For those interested in the YC area, it can be clearly be seen beginning at the 11 minute point in the video (a couple other spots also). There are two buildings visible (one is the restaurant, the other is unknown (by me) at this time). Currently, the YC food is prepared in two food trunks close by the main building and then brought to you by your waiter.  The YC beach is to the right of the two just mentioned buildings, and as you can tell, is just a very small part of the entire island/beach area. 

 

As you can easily see, the YC area is a very small part of the island and should not be considered a negative by non-YC passengers.